Subnautica 2 update 1.2 Buddy System adds proximity chat, revives, and emotes

Unknown Worlds Entertainment drops Subnautica 2 update 1.2 – dubbed Buddy System – on August 19th, and it's entirely focused on making co-op feel like an actual co-op experience. Proximity chat, player revives, inventory sharing, and emotes all land together in one patch.

Proximity chat is the headline feature. As creative director Anthony Gallegos explains in a dev diary, voice audio shifts to a crackling radio effect as players drift apart, then fades out entirely beyond a certain range. It's a small touch that should add real tension to exploring dark caves together. Emotes cover thumbs up, thumbs down, clapping, and raised fists – the clapping one is explicitly encouraged for sarcastic use when a friend messes up. Inventory sharing now works by walking up to a teammate and pulling directly from their backpack; the owner gets a notification, so no silent looting. The revive system gives downed players a short window where a teammate can swim over and share oxygen to bring them back – a feature that, as PC Gamer notes, is honestly surprising wasn't there from the start. Two new playable avatars and additional suit colours round out the cosmetic side, while a tracking tag lets you mark creatures or portable lockers and extends your blackbox signal range if you're carrying one when you die. HUD icons now scale based on where you're looking, pinned recipes got improvements, and the base builder tool better communicates valid placement spots.

Subnautica 2 launched into Early Access earlier this year from Unknown Worlds, the studio behind the original Subnautica and Below Zero. The game carries forward the underwater survival formula into a new alien ocean, this time with built-in multiplayer from the ground up rather than as an afterthought. The previous 1.1 update addressed creature behaviour to reduce frustration for players who wanted more aggressive playstyles, and the team has been shipping monthly updates since launch.

Gallegos confirmed in the dev diary that work on the Early Access 2 update is already underway – that one will bring a new region, new story content, new progression systems, and new vehicles. Buddy System reads as a necessary quality-of-life pass before the map expands and distances between players become even harder to manage.